Shanghai has a total of around 1000 hidden traffic cameras aimed at speeders, according to an article in today’s Shanghai Daily. That seems a huge amount to me, even though the city is very big. The most famous camera is the one on the road from Hongqiao airport to Yan’an Lu where taxi drivers slow down to about 20 km/h in order to avoid a fine, and after that speed up to 100 km/h again. But during my travels through the city I have only seen very few others, so they must be hidden very well!

I wonder if the article is confusing speed cameras with normal cameras that record the traffic flow and what’s happening on the street. I am aware that most big roads in Shanghai have cameras that allow police to see what’s happening all over the city. Last year I visited Guangdong Radio, and in the studio we were shown part of the system: you could name a road or intersection and with one click you were shown the cars and people there. You could even zoom in! Since then I have noted these cameras all over the place, so I think that these are the cameras that the Shanghai Daily mentions.